Threads Across the Web: June 2012

Wednesday, 27 June 2012

Tulip Slip

When I go away, I like to take a small embroidery project with me – even when I am on a stitching break! I had a couple of Needlework Nibbles not done so took one of those with me to Atlanta. It may have been a little ambitious to think that I could have the energy to do anything on top of the beading and certainly for the first week, I did not even think about stitching in the evenings but during the second week I made a start on the Tulip Slip.

The whole design is outlined with brown silk so I began by stitching that. I have to concentrate hard on counted techniques and even though I counted, recounted and counted again, I managed to create a different outline to the one charted. I decided not to worry about it as my version still looked like a tulip and I figured nobody would be checking my finished piece against the chart.

After the outline was complete, I did the details on the petals and leaves one colour at a time until eventually I had only to fill in the spaces with the last colour. It is a while since I have done counted work and I quite enjoyed it. The tulip design is rather sweet and the colours are lovely.

Then came the finishing! I did not enjoy any part of finishing this other that the fact that the materials were gorgeous. First the stitched slip had to be cut out and appliquéd to the velvet back ground. I had read on Rachel’s blog that the slip had a tendency to creep on the velvet. Fore warned is fore armed, right? I positioned the linen on the velvet with the tulip in the centre and secured it with plenty of pins. I then trimmed away the excess linen a small bit at a time and began trimming away the excess linen, turning the selvedge and stitching the slip in place a little at a time. I did a little bit on the left, then a little bit on the right, and when the central section was secure, bit by bit I worked around the whole slip. It was horrible! The linen frayed, the little sticky-outy bits didn’t want to turn under, and some of the stitching was in danger of unravelling. But I eventually got there and after all of my painstaking care ... the slip had slipped down and to the right some considerable amount! There was no way I was going to redo it so I trimmed the beautiful silk velvet to re-centre the tulip.

The next step was simple enough, I hand stitched the silk backing to the velvet front, right sides together (I nearly got the silk the wrong way round!), turn, stuff and close. And attaching the gorgeous gilt fine Grecian Twist was not difficult except for the decorative corners which I found extremely difficult!

All in all I am pleased with my Tulip Slip. It is smaller than it should be, which is a shame and I would have liked to do a better job of the appliqué but this was my first attempt at this technique.

Happy Stitching

Wednesday, 20 June 2012

The World Nuido Collection - Review

Every four years the Japanese Embroidery Center stage the Nuido World Exhibition, a show case of some of the fabulous embroideries stitched by JEC tutors and students from around the world and by professionals at the Kurenai-kai workshop. In 2007 the Exhibition was held in Cambridge and I was lucky enough to see the exhibition and take part in one of the Special Classes.

The fourth Nuido World Exhibition (2011) was held at two venues; University of Kentucky, USA and OzAsia Festival, Adelaide, Australia. The JEC have now published a book of the Exhibition, "The World Nuido Collection".

An important component of the Exhibition, and of the book, is the Fractal Project. When complete the Fractal Project will be a geodesic dome composed of approximately 700 individual pieces designed and created by embroiderers around the world, drawing on the art, history and traditions of each country.

The project is a work in progress and will take many years to complete. Three completed hexagons measuring 5 meters high and 4 meters wide and comprising 61 pieces each were displayed at the Exhibition. The Project is explained more fully in “The World Nuido Collection” and over 200 of the currently completed pieces are featured.

The book includes some of the Phase pieces and challenge designs stitched students that were exhibited, many of which I have not seen before.

The Hoitsu Scrolls and the Konbuin Fukusa, stitched at Kurenai-kai and first exhibited in Cambridge, were again on display at the Exhibition and are included in the book, in brief. These were fully featured on the World Exhibition 2007 CD-ROM.

For those who, like me, were not able to attend the 2011 Nuido World Exhibition this book is the next best thing to being there; for those who were able to attend or those whose work featured in the Exhibition this book would make a wonderful souvenir.

Happy Stitching

Wednesday, 13 June 2012

Bead Workshop

On the middle Sunday we had a day of rest and by then we needed it! Week two was a six day workshop. During workshop we could work on any previously started bead project. No specific tuition is given but Uematsu-sensei is still on hand to give advice and guidance. I wanted to use this time to continue with my Pouchette. I was beginning to feel better and the break from Pouchette had allowed me to take a step back and consider how I wanted to progress.

I still wanted to emphasis the gold lines but I felt that some of my initial beading was overly fussy. I decided not to take anything out at this point but to continue in a different area; class time is far too precious to spend it reverse stitching!

I wanted to include some moriage in the design and the centre of this paisley seemed a perfect place for it.

I also wanted to try out my thoughts on beading some flowers in a simpler, less fussy way.

And I wanted to play around with colour blending with the beads.

As the week progressed, my health improved and I was becoming more confident about how my piece was progressing. By the end of the second week, which simply flew by, I was beginning to feel a fit of bead-fatigue and I was longing be back home but I was also sorry that the adventure was over. At the end of final class, Sue and I needed to leave immediately for the airport; there was no time for lingering fair wells. One minute we were beading, the next we were on our way home.

I made many new friends in Atlanta. Some I had already ‘met’ on the internet but it was wonderful to meet them in person and spend time together simply beading. I shall always be grateful for all the help and advice I was given while I was an alien in Atlanta and am especially indebted to those who ferried us around and showed us the best places to eat. I’d like to thank Mr and Mrs Tamura, their family and all the JEC staff who worked so hard to make the course run smoothly and to make my visit to the Centre a memorable experience. Last, but very definitely not least, many thanks are due to Uematsu-sensei for her excellent tuition and to Kazumi-san for acting as translator. I had thought that this would be a ‘once in a life time’ trip to the Japanese Embroidery Centre but now that I have been there I want to go again!

Happy Stitching

Wednesday, 6 June 2012

The Exotic Elegance Pillow

On the fourth day of class we began another project – the Exotic Elegance Pillow. This class was very different from the Phase V class. The pillow is a set design like the earlier phase pieces. At the start of each lesson and periodically throughout the day Uematsu-sensei would instruct the class on which area we were to work on, the beads and the techniques to be used. After all the decision making of the previous three days, my poor aching brain was happy to leave the planning to someone else. The pace of the class was fast and there was plenty of note-taking needed but there was also plenty of time to just bead.

For the most part, the design uses some of the simpler techniques. The complexity of the design comes from the variety of beads used and blending them to give subtle colour changes along the twisting tendrils. This design includes clear beads lined with real gold – the colour is fantastic – and some gorgeous crystals.

I really enjoyed the Special Project Class and was really reluctant to put this piece aside after 3 days. This has to be hidden away for the time being because I want to complete my Pouchette before I work on any other beading project.

Happy Stitching

Threads Across the Web